Football: Strong Second Half Lifts Shadyside Past Linsly

September 22, 2012

SHADYSIDE - It's no secret that Shadyside hadn't been tested in its first four games.

Friday night at Fleming Field, the state-ranked Tigers found themselves locked in a scoreless battle with small-school rival Linsly at the half.

And to complicate matters a little more, head coach Mark Holenka and offensive coordinator Mark Bonar spent much of the halftime break involved with their daughters during Homecoming 2012.

No problem.

Shadyside (5-0) scored on all three of its second-half possessions on its way to a 17-3 decision against the Cadets (2-3).

"It's great to these young men that they faced that adversity and they didn't keep their heads tucked down between their legs," Holenka said. "You can either tuck your tail or come out in the second half and give it all you've got."

Shadyside shot itself in the foot twice in the first half with fumbles deep in Linsly territory, but the Tigers defense kept hard-running Chinelo Oparanozie under wraps for the most part.

The Tigers took the second-half kickoff and marched 80 yards on eight plays. Quarterback Chase Kinemond eventually dove across the goal line to snap the scoreless drought at the 8:07 mark.

The Cadets picked up a pair of first downs on their first possession of the second half, but on a 3rd-and-7 from the Shadyside 32, the snap from center sailed past quarterback Jibri Blount. The Tigers' Eric Howell finally pounced on it at the Cadets' 48.

When that drive stalled, Cody Hudson drilled a 32-yard field goal with 38.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Linsly refused to quit and drove inside Shadyside territory early in the fourth quarter. The Cadets had made it to the Tigers' 26 before the march stalled out.

Ranier Whiteside kept Linsly from being shut out when he connected on a 43-yard field goal that would've been good from at least 50. It capped a 10-play, 50-yard drive.

Shadyside answered right back with another 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive as Chris Littell bulled his way over from 2 yards out.

"We made our fair share of mistakes. Take nothing away from them (Shadyside) because they made their fair share in the first half, as well," Linsly coach B.J. Depew lamented. "They were able to get it together at a critical time, and we kind of came unglued and made some mistakes.

"They're an excellent football team. The credit goes to the way their kids played all night."

Kinemond led the Tigers with 238 yards of total offense, of which 151 came via the ground on 15 carries. He had a 51-yard jaunt that set up the final touchdown. Through the air, he was 6-for-10 for 87 yards and the aforementioned TD.

Shadyside amassed 275 rushing yards as Ramsey added 89 on 17 carries.

Austin Dorris grabbed half of Kinemond's completions for 24 yards, while Hudson hauled in two for 42.

Oparanozie ran the ball 28 times for 153 yards, but three other ballcarriers accounted for minus-33 yards on six carries.

Blount was 9 of 17 for 46 yards and an interception, which Kinemond came up with.

"To hold them to zero points offensively, that's a heck of an effort by our defense," Holenka praised. "They've been working hard each week. The Oparanozie kid is just one or two steps from breaking a long one each time he touches the ball, but we kept him bottled up for the most part."